Wooster native wins Mandarin speech contest

Tuesday

Dec 27, 2011 at 4:01 AM

By LINDA HALLStaff WriterWOOSTER -- A Princeton University junior from Wooster has won a prestigious competition.Kyle Ofori, a graduate of St. Mary's School in Wooster and Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., took first place Oct. 8 in the Hong Kong Cup Chinese Speech Contest in New York City's Rose Conference Hall on Park Avenue.Ofori said he was advised learning Mandarin would be useful to him, particularly because the Chinese economy is "up and coming," he said.An economics major in college, he began studying Mandarin in high school and became "more interested in (foreign) language and what it could do for me (in the future)."His study of Mandarin opens "a lot more chances for exchange and study abroad (programs)," along with providing opportunities "to meet and connect" with the increasing number of students from mainland China seeking their own opportunities in the United States.Ofori has taken six years of Mandarin and applied for the competition in May of his sophomore year at Princeton.He heard about the contest from a professor and also observed "a smaller in-school speech competition ... in the Chinese department."The competition consisted of two rounds, he said.From a DVD on which he recorded a speech consisting of a self-introduction and thoughts on what he would like to know about Hong Kong, Ofori was one of 15 students selected from the first phase of the competition among students from universities including Princeton, New York University, Hunter College and Rutgers.The in-person New York City phase of the competition was a five-minute speech, Ofori said."We were so amazed and impressed (by Ofori)," said Anita Chan, the director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York, which organized the contest.Ofori's first-place win includes a week-long visit to Hong Kong, beginning Jan. 28, 2012."He will be attending a short exchange program at one of our universities," Chan said.Ofori, an economics major, also plans to spend the spring semester studying at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.The Hong Kong Cup is "one of the only college-level Mandarin Speech competitions in the U.S.," said Debora Mordkowski, and "was meant to promote a greater appreciation of the Chinese language, as well as interest in the cultural ties between the U.S. and Hong Kong.""A lot of major companies have their Asian headquarters in Hong Kong," said Chan, citing as examples, Coca Cola, GE and Caterpillar.More are being added, she said, providing a wealth of opportunities for "bright (people) with special knowledge and skills from all over the world; we welcome you.""Students from the U.S. are very welcome in Hong Kong, a very vibrant city," Chan said.It is attractive for a wide variety of reasons, from its international airport rated No. 1 in the world by the 2011 World Airport Awards to its lack of a sales tax. Along with being linked to mainland China, "we also have a very close relationship with the U.S.," said Chan, counting more than 1,300 U.S. companies operating in Hong Kong and 60,000 U.S. citizens residing there."We really have very deep links with the United States," she said.English and Chinese are dual official languages in Hong Kong, Chan said.Although English is widely spoken, foreign visitors who know Chinese have a distinct advantage in pursuing opportunities in Hong Kong.The Chinese language is "common to so many people around the world," she said, and Mandarin is "the common language of the entire country."The son of Wooster physicians Cyril Ofori and Amelia Laing, Ofori has a word of advice for other students.Foreign language is "more than just a class you sign up for (in school).""I encourage anyone to take a foreign language and take is seriously," said Ofori, whose twin brother, Kevin, is also an economics major at Princeton.Reporter Linda Hall can be reached at 330-264-1125, Ext. 2230, or lhall@the-daily-record.com.

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